12 Years a Slave & Esther

Like Solomon Northup, Esther could not reveal her true identity.

This year's Oscar-winning film, 12 Years a Slave, is based on the true story of Solomon Northup, a New York State-born free African American man who was kidnapped in Washington D.C. in 1841 and sold into slavery. Under brutal conditions he worked on plantations in Louisiana for 12 years before he was finally released.

Throughout all the harsh years that he suffered as a slave, no one believed his real story. His wife and children spent those 12 years in New York wondering where he was and why he had disappeared. His vocation as a farmer and violinist became distant memories. He had to pretend that he didn't know how to read so that he wouldn't be killed. He had to live someone else's life until Samuel Bass, a trusted Canadian carpenter who worked with Northup, sent letters, including one written by Northup, to friends and higher-ups revealing Northup’s location. Eventually someone from the North came to rescue him.

Solomon returned to his family and reclaimed his true identity, but he was unsuccessful in his attempt to sue the men who kidnapped him and sold him into slavery. The law in the District of Columbia prohibited him as a black man from testifying against whites. Later, in New York State, the two men were charged with kidnapping but two years later the charges were dropped. We are left with a sense of bewildered injustice: How could this man lose 12 years of his life without any explanation or reparation? How could a free, employed husband and father lose his entire identity for so long?

When the film won Best Picture last week, I thought about how the Book of Esther that we will read on the upcoming holiday of Purim echoes with the last of the lingering questions from Solomon’s life story.

She had to hide the core of her soul: her precious Jewish identity.

When Esther was chosen to be queen and married the evil Achashverosh, Mordechai warned her not to reveal her true identity. He feared for her safety and knew that she could only help the Jewish people if her identity as a Jew remained a secret. Esther obeyed Mordechai's instructions as she desperately held onto the precious legacy of her ancestors. She kept seven servants, one for each day of the week so she would always know when Shabbos arrived. She made sure that there was no chametz in the palace for Passover, and only ate fruit and vegetables so that she could keep kosher. But for years she had to pretend to be somebody that she wasn't. She had to hide the core of her soul: her precious Jewish identity.

Imagine being forced to mask your identity. Esther didn't forget who she was, but did the masquerade impact her belief in her own inner strength? By the time she needed to approach the King to beg for the salvation of the Jewish nation, she was hesitiant to speak up.* Mordechai reminded her what she would lose if she didn't step forward: “Do not imagine that you will be able to escape in the King’s palace any more than the rest of the Jews. For if you persist in keeping silent at a time like this, relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from some other place, while you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows, perhaps just for this moment, you were chosen to be in the Palace” (Megillat Esther 4:12-14).

Esther rose to the occasion and saved our nation. She begged the King to save the Jews and destroy Haman’s plans. In the end, Haman was killed, along with his 10 sons, in the same way that he had planned to kill Mordechai, and the Jewish nation was victorious against its enemies.

History Repeats Itself

But history weaves its way forward in spirals. Today we are once again faced with the fear to express our true identity. A recent survey of Jews from nine European countries, conducted by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, revealed that a quarter of the respondents avoid visiting places and wearing symbols that identify them as Jews because they are afraid of being attacked. In Sweden, 49 percent of the respondents said they are afraid of wearing a kippah and carrying any identifiably Jewish item.

Are we returning to a time in history when we are afraid to be recognized as Jews?

An overwhelming majority of European Jews reported a rise in anti-Semitism. Last week a group of Arab men attacked a Jew on a Paris train, shouting at him: “Jew, you have no country.” The attackers strangled him and beat him until another passenger warned that the police were coming. Unfortunately, more than 75 percent of respondents do not report anti-Semitic harassment to the police and 64 percent said they do not report physical assaults; the respondents believe that reporting incidents either was “not worth the effort” or simply ineffective.

The statistics are chilling. Are we returning to a time in history when we are afraid to be recognized as Jews? Are we again hiding our identities out of fear for our lives? Are we masquerading behind someone else’s life story because it is too risky to use our own voices? Years of slavery can make a person feel trapped even though in his heart, he knows that he is a free man. And when no one else can see who you are, can you be strong enough to know yourself? When no one else knows where you have come from and where you dream of going, can you stay true to your own values? Will we have the strength to take off our masks when we need to speak to the King?

Because if we cannot tear off our masks like Esther did, our true stories will be lost. This is why the megillah is named after Esther. She risked her life to save the Jewish People. She didn’t give up. She told the King: I am a Jew, and my people are in danger.

Because of Esther, we have the holiday of Purim when the bewildering sense of injustice is turned upside down, and the kidnapped man gets to see his captors reprimanded. A day when we ‘get back’ those lost years when we were living someone else’s life script. A day when all the loose ends come together and all the plot lines converge. A day when we no longer feel shame or fear. A day when we all have the chance to find our true voices and write the megillahs of our own lives.

This Purim, we have the opportunity to feel the love of our Father, our King who has always known who we really are, and who has been patiently waiting for us to reclaim the scripts of our lives. He is waiting for us to find the courage to say: I am a Jew, and I am stepping forward to speak up. This is who I always was. This is who I really am. This is who I will always be.

*The idea that Esther lost her self-confidence when she was forced to hide her identity comes from Rabbi Joshua Lookstein

Featured at Aish.com:

About the Author

Sara Debbie Gutfreund received her BA in English from the University of Pennsylvania and her MA in Family Therapy from the University of North Texas. She has taught parenting classes and self-development seminars and provided adolescent counseling. She writes extensively for many online publications and in published anthologies of Jewish women's writing. She and her husband spent 14 wonderful years raising their five children in Israel, and now live in Blue Ridge Estates in Waterbury, Connecticut, where Sara Debbie enjoys skiing and running in her free time.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 10

(10)
Samsmom,
March 12, 2014 5:27 AM

I don't see the comparison

Please don't take this the wrong way but I don't see the analogy between Esther and Mr. Northup.

Esther was taken against her will to be a wife for a king. While she was forced to be away from her people and family, she lived in luxury and was not starved or beaten. She was treated kindly and everything but her freedom was given to her. Her duty every day was to be beautiful and kind.

Mr. Northup was ripped from his family and people. He was starved, beaten, and lived in mortal fear every day for 12 years. He was worked, sold, and mistreated every single day of his 12 years of captivity. Yes he was returned to his family, but his freedom was in jeopardy until slavery ended.

Esther was able to save her people and to the person who put them into punished. Mr. Northup's abductors were charged but not punished.

Anti-Semitism is horrible. My son has experienced it which, has broken my heart. I have hoped that he would not have to endure that. He is also half African American(from me) and he has had to endure racism as well. He is a proud young man and despite the occasional harassment he receives for being Jewish, he still wears his kippah and Star of David.

(9)
Mawloud Ould Daddah,
March 10, 2014 12:35 AM

long life Israel

long life Israel

(8)
Saara,
March 10, 2014 12:18 AM

Stolen identity

I can identify with this on several levels.

I have been a slave myself, in more than one way. I have been abused and sold to be abused, I have been sold into a forced "marriage" and was subsequently held as a slave for several years. During these years I was not permitted to use my real name or speak my language, but had to pretend to be something that I am not.

Also, the growing racism and antisemitism here in the UK has forced me for many years to pretend to be British - I am actually Egyptian - for fear of racist attacks. I pretended to follow British culture and dressed in the Western way.

Throughout these years I felt that my soul was being raped, and my hair fell out - no doctor has ever been able to find the reason for this, but since hair is the symbol of a person's strength and identity I think this happened because my identity had been stolen for so long.

Even now I am in a situation where I have to hide my true identity. In order to marry my husband, I had to change religion. I believed at first I was doing the right thing with this, but a Jew is always a Jew no matter what, and I feel like just standing up and telling the whole world "look at me, I am Jewish, like it or not".

I feel like something very essential to my identity has been taken from me - yet again - and I feel lost, wondering if I have done the right thing. But what would have been the alternative? We couldn't have gotten married if I hadn't changed religion and ours was a love marriage.

I am very glad I came across this article. Maybe I have to do the same as Esther - remain strong, remember my roots and my true identity, and who knows what the reason is that all this is happening to me.

(7)
Rob steinberg,
March 9, 2014 9:24 PM

The "someone from the north who saved him" is Mr Parket played by me, a former Aish member and current Partners in Torah student.
Best
Rob Steinberg

(6)
Chanah,
March 9, 2014 8:36 PM

a disappointing conclusion

I kept waiting for the solution to the problem but unfortunately the writer failed to mention the only place in which Jews can be totally Jewish without shame or fear. Yes G-d is indeed waiting for Jews to accept their mission & to make aliyah to the land He gave us as a gift. In regard to Esther, it was her son Darius who helped the Jews return to Israel to build the second Temple. There is much more to the story and its application to today's Jews. If you want to really live as a Jew openly, make aliyah. It just takes a little faith.

(5)
Anonymous,
March 9, 2014 6:07 PM

Read the Book(s)

I didn't see the movie but I read the first section of the book, "12 Years a Slave." Too painful. It was tearing me up, I had to stop.

On the other hand, I've read and studied and taken many classes on the book of Esther's Thank G-d for His justice and His love for the Jewish People.

(4)
Anonymous,
March 9, 2014 3:08 PM

A Great Article

This was one of the best analysis of the movie 12 Years A Slave compared to the Jewish holiday Purim. Both my husband just finished looking at the movie. I cried so hard because as a Jew and African American I can existentially feel the pain of slavery in both, people of color and the Jews. Fear in many keep us from doing the right thing. Solomon was born a free man. Many of the slaves who lived in daily tyranny died from within, in other words, lost all hope of freedom. Unlike Solomon, Esther was fortified by the support and the love from Mordechai who constantly reminded her of the ways of God and the Jewish beliefs. Unfortunately,Solomon only had the religion of the slave holders who twisted and manipulated their religion to justify the institution of slavery. Yes, it is a profound reality that history is repeating itself in light of what is happening today in Europe's anti-Semitic environment.America is getting a taste of anti-semitism by its growing belief that Israel is an apartheid nation. It is boycotting Israel, a move that threatens all of America particularly our youth on the college campuses. The question that comes before all us as Jews is in the story of Esther, can we stand up boldly and embrace our Jewish identity in the face of ridicule, rejection from the mainstream culture, threat of losing our economic status, and even in the possibility of death? Can we be like Esther and Solomon Northup.? We don't know what horrific circumstances will come before us, but we can now ask G-d to give us the strength and courage to do the right thing,not just for ourselves, but for our nation, Israel. Purim is a holiday of celebration of freedom for the Jews. However, this holiday should remind us all of the great sufferings in other nations which holds its people captive in slavery.

(3)
shifra,
March 9, 2014 2:26 PM

Solomon Northup vs Esther

Although Solomon Northup was kidnapped and taken away from his family for 12 yrs he did live to see reuniting back with his family; unlike Esther. She was placed in a position to help the Jewish people; although her fear may have been internal; she could have been beaten often; like Solomon was, when she revealed who she really was. Solomon's story is one of millions of slaves black or Jewish, that needed to be told!!

(2)
Anonymous,
March 9, 2014 1:53 PM

rewarded

"She was stuck married to Achashveirosh and even had a child with him. She risked her life for us, but her life was never a life of freedom after she completed her job. Wishing you a very happy and meaningful Purim."But one thing that she did very well was to train her son, because he eventually became king and was able to allow the Jews to rebuild the temple. That would make any mother proud.

(1)
S Lebowitz,
March 9, 2014 1:00 PM

Esther was still in palace after she revealed who she was.

Sara Debbie, I absolutely love your articles and enjoy reading them wherever I can find them. It's amazing how you find mussar in the mundane.The difference between the "slave" and Esther is that Esther was never free even after revealing her Judaism. She could live as a Jew, but she was never able to return to the Jewish People. She was stuck married to Achashveirosh and even had a child with him. She risked her life for us, but her life was never a life of freedom after she completed her job. Wishing you a very happy and meaningful Purim.

I've been striving to get more into spirituality. But it seems that every time I make some progress, I find myself slipping right back to where I started. I'm getting discouraged and feel like a failure. Can you help?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Spiritual slumps are a natural part of spiritual growth. There is a cycle that people go through when at times they feel closer to God and at times more distant. In the words of the Kabbalists, it is "two steps forward and one step back." So although you feel you are slipping, know that this is a natural process. The main thing is to look at your overall progress (over months or years) and be able to see how far you've come!

This is actually God's ingenious way of motivating us further. The sages compare this to teaching a baby how to walk. When the parent is holding on, the baby shrieks with delight and is under the illusion that he knows how to walk. Yet suddenly, when the parent lets go, the child panics, wobbles and may even fall.

At such times when we feel spiritually "down," that is often because God is letting go, giving us the great gift of independence. In some ways, these are the times when we can actually grow the most. For if we can move ourselves just a little bit forward, we truly acquire a level of sanctity that is ours forever.

Here is a practical tool to help pull you out of the doldrums. The Sefer HaChinuch speaks about a great principle in spiritual growth: "The external awakens the internal." This means that although we may not experience immediate feelings of closeness to God, eventually, by continuing to conduct ourselves in such a manner, this physical behavior will have an impact on our spiritual selves and will help us succeed. (A similar idea is discussed by psychologists who say: "Smile and you will feel happy.")

That is the power of Torah commandments. Even if we may not feel like giving charity or praying at this particular moment, by having a "mitzvah" obligation to do so, we are in a framework to become inspired. At that point we can infuse that act of charity or prayer with all the meaning and lift it can provide. But if we'd wait until being inspired, we might be waiting a very long time.

May the Almighty bless you with the clarity to see your progress, and may you do so with joy.

In 1940, a boatload 1,600 Jewish immigrants fleeing Hitler's ovens was denied entry into the port of Haifa; the British deported them to the island of Mauritius. At the time, the British had acceded to Arab demands and restricted Jewish immigration into Palestine. The urgent plight of European Jewry generated an "illegal" immigration movement, but the British were vigilant in denying entry. Some ships, such as the Struma, sunk and their hundreds of passengers killed.

If you seize too much, you are left with nothing. If you take less, you may retain it (Rosh Hashanah 4b).

Sometimes our appetites are insatiable; more accurately, we act as though they were insatiable. The Midrash states that a person may never be satisfied. "If he has one hundred, he wants two hundred. If he gets two hundred, he wants four hundred" (Koheles Rabbah 1:34). How often have we seen people whose insatiable desire for material wealth resulted in their losing everything, much like the gambler whose constant urge to win results in total loss.

People's bodies are finite, and their actual needs are limited. The endless pursuit for more wealth than they can use is nothing more than an elusive belief that they can live forever (Psalms 49:10).

The one part of us which is indeed infinite is our neshamah (soul), which, being of Divine origin, can crave and achieve infinity and eternity, and such craving is characteristic of spiritual growth.

How strange that we tend to give the body much more than it can possibly handle, and the neshamah so much less than it needs!